Alt 98.7/FM’s 2nd Annual iHeartRadio ALTer Ego bash sold out at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday night and it had quite an impressive line-up with show-topping performances courtesy of arguably two of the biggest modern day rock bands: Muse and The Killers.

Though The Killers, fearlessly led by the charismatic Brandon Flowers, brought the mostly lethargic crowd to life via its much too short — but hit-filled — set, they don’t get all of the credit. Maybe it’s still super early in the year and people are working off holiday hangovers and slowly easing back into their routines in 2019, but for a gig boasting a superstar line-up the crowd inside the venue seemed pretty subdued, especially for the first half of the evening.

It also didn’t help that there was no pit and that the floor was completely seated, however since the show was being videoed and streamed live on the radio and webcasting via LiveXLive, it made sense as the designated aisles provided easy routes for the hardworking camera crews to scurry about.

Twenty One Pilots performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Tim McIlrath of Rise Against performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Weezer performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The Revivalists perform during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The band Muse headlines the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Twenty One Pilots performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

From left, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine perform during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Matt Bellamy of Muse performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Weezer performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Twenty One Pilots performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Rivers Cuomo of Weezer performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Dominic Howard of Muse performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Zach Blair of Rise Against performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The band Muse headlines the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots performs during the ALT 98.7/FM ALTer Ego fest at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Musical duo Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun of Twenty One Pilots have sold out The Forum all on their own in the past, but were curiously the first band up at ALTer Ego, hitting the stage at around 7:35 p.m. with plenty of props including a full car that served as both a pyro-filled backdrop and something for Joseph to jump on and off of throughout the set. Joseph told the crowd that it was their idea to open the show.

“Then they announced the other bands and we were like, ‘Oh yeah, that makes sense,’” he said, jokingly adding that organizers “saved the best for first.”

If it was a ploy to get the normally late concertgoers of Southern California into their seats early, it worked as the two performed their biggest hits including “Heathens,” “Stressed Out” and “Ride” along with newer tracks, “Jumpsuit,” “My Blood” and “Levitate.”

New Orleans-based rock band The Revivalists had a really short-but-sweet set though the majority of folks seemed hellbent on sitting. Fans up front and on the floor danced along to songs like “Wish I Knew You” and “All My Friends,” but the energy in the room was so weird.

Punk rock band Rise Against should have been able to get the people stirring as it came out on fire with “Satellite,” but again, butts were stuck to chairs. It was also a bit awkward to have a rousing punk rock band like Rise Against perform and not give the fans room to mosh.

Energy stayed high for singer-songwriter Bishop Briggs who renders herself breathless as she jogs about the stage, yet somehow is able to hit each and every single one of those incredible notes. The 26-year-old, who is still rocking her shaved head which she did to support a friend going through chemotherapy, was the only female on the main bill (electronic duo Matt & Kim played the free parking lot party show earlier in the day). It was a fact that seemingly found Briggs feeling both very honored and also a little lonely especially since the show date coincided with the third annual Women’s March.

She represented her gender well during the five-song set, which unfortunately did have some technical difficulties. She’s handed it like a pro, telling a little bit of the history behind “Baby,” the first-ever love song she’s written. She closed her turn with the boot-stompin’, “River,” which, of all of her songs, truly showcases her impressive range.

Southern California’s house band, Weezer, also helped keep the evening fun with its all-killer-no-filler set. The band, which has a new album, “The Black Album,” dropping on March 1, played its latest bouncy single, “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” alongside a slew of familiar hits including “Hash Pipe,” “Buddy Holly,” “Say It Ain’t So” and “Pork and Beans.” Of course the group wasn’t going to leave out its inescapable cover of Toto’s “Africa,” which had everyone singing along. Vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo also prefaced the new song by announcing that the fest had saved “the best for the middle” in response to Twenty One Pilots claiming the best came first.

Though there were lots of fans sporting the signature beanies of Twenty One Pilots, it was pretty obvious that this crowd was there to see The Killers and Muse. The Killers’ set seemed to go by in a flash as it breezed through “The Man” and “Somebody Told Me.” Flowers got the crowd singing along to “Human” and the audience must have sang the line “I got soul, but I’m not a soldier” from “All These Things That I’ve Done” at least three dozen times as the band relished in the moment and extended out the radio hit. By the time it wrapped with “When You Were Young,” it felt like it had all ended as quickly as it had started though it’s difficult to feel cheated when the evening had been filled with so many performances and with Muse following directly behind.

Muse dropped a super fun album last year, the synth-pop infused “Simulation Theory,” which it only explored by opening with “Pressure.” The rest of its turn was just as expected, a solid run through of some of its biggest hits including “Madness,” “Time is Running Out” and “Supermassive Black Hole.”

Kelli Skye Fadroski lives for entertainment. She’s worked at The Orange County Register since 2006 and has covered all things music, stand-up comedy, horror and more. When she’s not out reviewing a concert or interviewing some random famous person, she’s catching up on episodes of 'The Walking Dead,' somewhere sampling craft beer, enjoying Taco Tuesday or yelling at the contestants through the TV on 'Celebrity Name Game' for not knowing basic pop culture trivia. She’s also a diehard Detroit Lions fan.

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